Garfield And Friends: Behind The Scenes

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All Rise...

Judge Aaron Bossig couldn't wait to watch this DVD. Then he realized he already had.

The Charge

He's furry! He's fat! He's all that—and more!

Opening Statement

Six years after the passing of Lorenzo Music, longtime voice of our favorite
orange cat, more Garfield DVDs are being released. What can these new
discs offer that the five-volume TV show collection cannot? Apparently,
nothing.

Facts of the Case

Garfield, the daily comic strip, appears in thousands of newspapers
across the world. The strip usually makes a joke about its feline title
character eating too much, sleeping too much, or harassing the family dog. The
three-panel format doesn't allow for much depth or experimentation. When
stretched into the Saturday-morning cartoon Garfield and Friends the
orange cat gets a chance to explore more complex issues…like TV.

The Evidence

Don't expect any true "behind the scenes" content. You'll find no
Jim Davis interviews, storyboards, or unused cartoons. This DVD contains no
extra features of any kind. Garfield and Friends: Behind the Scenes is
simply a collection of several cartoons from the series, nothing more, nothing
less. In other words, it's a lame "Best-of" collection intended for
people too cheap to buy the season sets or possibly as a cheap gift for a young
Garfield fan.

"Best of" collections are generally not considered to be a good
way to present a TV show on DVD. This particular DVD is an excellent example.
Unlike lesser Saturday-morning cartoons, Garfield and Friends was written
to develop running gags and establish some basic continuity. Some of the
episodes on the disc feature cameos by The Buddy Bears and Cactus Jake. If you
haven't seen earlier episodes, these characters mean nothing and any jokes about
them fall flat. I can understand a studio wanting to sell a cheap compilation
disc at a bargain price, but in this case, it comes at the expense of what made
the show so witty. What was originally an effort to make a well-written cartoon
gets reduced to a collection of sound bites.

The DVD cover labels Behind the Scenes an "exclusive DVD."
Exclusive to what? Exclusive to the bargain bin at Target? Exclusive to anyone
with $9.99? Garfield and Friends has already been released on DVD in
fantastic season sets. There is nothing that can be found on this disc that
isn't in the season sets. Truthfully, what's being excluded would be a majority
of the Garfield cartoons that could have appeared on this disc, but did
not.

Not even considering the content on the disc, the presentation of the
cartoons leaves something to be desired. Most of the colors seem a bit muted for
a Saturday-morning cartoon, while in a few areas, the brighter colors bloom
wildly. This is most noticeable during the opening sequence, in which the
"and Friends" part of the title has a pixilated neon look to it. I
wasn't expecting Garfield to be a reference-quality disc, but it just
seems like time was not kind to the source material.

As an additional annoyance, every single cartoon is preceded by the full
title sequence and followed by the full credits. This is true regardless of
whether you are watching one single cartoon or the entire disc at once. With
over a dozen cartoons on the disc, I can't imagine wanting to see the credits
sequence over and over again.

The only redeeming thing I can say about Behind the Scenes is that
while it is merely a compilation disc, it is a very good assortment of episodes.
The cartoons chosen for this disc are the cream of the furry crop. If I were
trapped on a desert island and could only take a dozen Garfield cartoons
with me, this disc would be a good pick. However, the only cartoons on here are
full-length Garfield cartoons. There are no TV Specials, no Quickies, and
no U.S. Acres/Orson's Farm cartoons. I have to wonder why—they're
just as funny as the Garfield cartoons.

Closing Statement

It might seem a bit pedantic to fuss over presenting a Saturday morning
cartoon show in its most authentic form. However, I just don't understand the
purpose of this disc. Previously, "Best-of" collections were used to
test the market before a full-season set of a TV show would be released. If a
small number of people bought the cheap disc, it would be a reasonable
assumption that more people would buy the better set. Why release a good set
first, and then throw a compilation disc out after the fact? Yes, it's cheap,
but it's not like the season sets were that expensive.

The Verdict

The accused is found guilty of misrepresentation. What is labeled as a fresh
look at Garfield is, in fact, just a repackaging of what's already on the
market.